SALINAS & FERGUSON: A Media Difference In Being Brown vs Black In U.S. Society

Latina in Salinas, CA with sign protesting police brutality

Op-Ed by Angel Tenez | Mexican American News - October 24, 2014

There are many similarites between the African American and Latino American communities in the U.S. Unfortunately,
one of the glaring commonalities is a reality of living with the extreme police brutality experienced in our communities.

However, despite sharing this horrendous fact of our society, an embarrasment to the U.S. everywhere in the civilized world,
the levels of attention that mainstream American news media gives toward these two respective communities and their shared
problem of police brutality is dramatically different. Take for example the situation this year between the police shooting
of Michael Brown (Aug. 9) in Ferguson, MO, and the four Latinos (emphasis "four" people) killled by the police in Salinas, CA,
this year: Angel Ruiz (March 20); Osman Hernandez (May 9); Carlos Mejia (May 20); and Frank Alvarado Jr. (July 10).

Whereas the nation and world are both currently a buzz regarding the situation of one African American male in Ferguson,
the similar deaths of four Latinos in Salinas are little talked about by mainstream media and thus relatively unknown.

In discussing the lack of national news coverage being given to the crisis in Salinas, a few of the local residents have
repeatedly stated to Mexican American News, "Does America really want us to start acting like Ferguson to be heard?"
Truly, that is a valid question for the national news media.

Whereas the Salinas Police Dept. has repeated stated they shot and killed Carlos Mejia on May 20 because he was swinging
a pair of garden shears toward officers. The video footage shown below clearly shows a different story. Rather, what's seen
is a man silently walking home when he is then shot in the back from behind leading to his death. Police also said the officers
tried to use a taser on him. Whereas, the video clearly shows differently with one witnesses heard yelling, “Why the fu**
didn’t you guys just taser him? You guys didn’t even try.”

ADDITIONAL FEATURED NEWS REPORTS RELATED TO THE TOPIC OF THIS ARTICLE FROM AROUND THE WEB:

"I had given them the benefit of the doubt," she said. "I didn't believe it was a race thing until these nine names came out. But four Latino men,
including my beautiful brother, and it was nine cops, not one Latino." Garza was among about 50 gathered Wed. outside the Salinas Police Dept.
to protest police violence as part of nationwide.
-- Read full article: (click here)

FERGUSON, MO - This past weekend, in a tense press conference, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency and called for a curfew in Ferguson,
the St. Louis suburb where protesters have been clashing violently with law-enforcement officials following the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed
black teenager. “This is a test,” Nixon said. “The eyes of the world are watching.”.. Knowingly or not, Nixon was echoing words
... -- Read full article: (click here)